Charlie McBrearty and Vanessa McLean of Shortlist, West Hollywood, Calif., are handling West Coast representation for Amber Music, which has offices in London, New York and Los Angeles….Samanta Balassa has come on board as a rep at R2, the New York-based firm headed by Richard Fink and Robin Fried….Global Production Network, Los Angeles, has signed Miracle Films of Greece, Acasa Esana of Belgium and Gulliver Films of the Ukraine for exclusive U.S. representation, thus continuing its expansion to offer production service resources to producers looking to shoot in Europe….DP Manuel Alberto Claro is now exclusively repped for commercials, music videos and features through Lyons Sheldon Prosnit, Los Angeles….DP John Toll has wrapped principal photography on the Cameron Crowe-directed Elizabethtown with Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Toll is now available for commercials through The Judy Marks Agency, Los Angeles….DP Dan Stoloff has completed principal photography on Nick Guthe’s Mini’s First Time and is again available for spots through The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica….
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More